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Joanna Macy

Joanna Macy Books

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“There's a song that wants to sing itself through us. We just got to be available. Maybe the song that is to be sung through us is the most beautiful requiem for an irreplaceable planet or maybe it's a song of joyous rebirth as we create a new culture that doesn't destroy its world. But in any case, there's absolutely no excuse for our making our passionate love for our world dependent on what we think of its degree of health, whether we think it's going to go on forever. Those are just thoughts anyway. But this moment you're alive, so you can just dial up the magic of that at any time.”

ThinkingWorldWantMomentsBeautifulSongCultureCasesForeverAliveMagicPlanetsGoes OnDegreesPassionateExcuseAvailableDependentOur WorldRebirthJoyousNo ExcusesPassionate LoveIrreplaceableRequiemNew CulturesJust A Thought
Author:Joanna Macy
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“This is a dark time, filled with suffering and uncertainty. Like living cells in a larger body, it is natural that we feel the trauma of our world. So don’t be afraid of the anguish you feel, or the anger or fear, because these responses arise from the depth of your caring and the truth of your interconnectedness with all beings.”

WorldFeelsHumansBodySufferingFearNatureNaturalDarkConnectionsAngerFilledResponseDepthCaringTraumaAriseCellsUncertaintyOur WorldAnguishConnectednessInterconnectednessDark Times
Book:Pass it On: Five Stories That Can Change the World
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“When you look at what is happening to our world-and it is hard to look at what's happening to our water, our air, our trees, our fellow species-it becomes clear that unless you have some roots in a spiritual practice that holds life sacred and encourages joyful communion with all your fellow beings, facing the enormous challenges ahead becomes nearly impossible.”

WorldLooksHardSpiritualWaterChallengesPracticeClearImpossibleAirTreeHappeningsRootsFellowsSacredSpeciesEnormousOur WorldJoyfulCommunionSpiritual Practice
Book:Greening of the Self
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“We are capable of suffering with our world, and that is the true meaning of compassion. It enables us to recognize our profound interconnectedness with all beings. Don't ever apologize for crying for the trees burning in the Amazon or over the waters polluted from mines in the Rockies. Don't apologize for the sorrow, grief, and rage you feel. It is a measure of your humanity and your maturity. It is a measure of your open heart, and as your heart breaks open there will be room for the world to heal. That is what is happening as we see people honestly confronting the sorrows of our time.”

PeopleWorldFeelsHeartSufferingHumanityWaterRoomsGriefCompassionBreakTreeCryMinesSorrowCapableHappeningsProfoundRageHonestlyHealBurningMaturityOur TimeOur WorldApologizingAmazonHeart BreakConfrontingOpen HeartInterconnectednessTrue Meaning
Author:Joanna Macy
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“No magic bullet, not even the Internet, can save us from population explosion, deforestation, climate disruption, poison by pollution, and wholesale extinction of plant and animal species. We are going to have to want different things, seek different pleasures, pursue different goals than those that have been driving us and our global economy.”

WantHas BeensDifferentGoalPleasureAnimalEconomyMagicInternetPlantClimateSpeciesPopulationDrivingPursuePoisonDifferent ThingsPollutionBulletsExtinctionExplosionsDisruptionGlobal EconomyPlants And AnimalsWholesaleDeforestationPopulation Explosion
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“The refusal to feel takes a heavy toll. Not only is there an impoverishment of our emotional and sensory life, flowers are dimmer and less fragrant, our loves less ecstaticâ but this psychic numbing also impedes our capacity to process and respond to information. The energy expended in pushing down despair is diverted from more creative uses, depleting the resilience and imagination needed for fresh visions and strategies.”

FeelsUseEnergyProcessImaginationVisionCreativeInformationEmotionalFlowerNeededDespairCapacityStrategyHeavyResiliencePushingOur LovePsychicsRefusalEcstaticSensoryTollsNumbing
Author:Joanna Macy
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“In the early Buddhist view, then, a persons identity resides not in an enduring self but in his actions (karma)- that is in the choices that shape these actions. Because the dispositions formed by previous choices can be modified in turn by present behaviour, this identity as choice-maker is fluid, its experience alterable. While it is affected by the past, it can also break free of the past.”

PersonsSelfActionPastTurnsChoicesViewsBreakIdentityMoralityShapesEthicsEndureKarmaBuddhistAffectedMakersBehaviourDispositionFluid
Author:Joanna Macy
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“The biggest gift you can give is to be absolutely present, and when you're worrying about whether you're hopeful, or hopeless, or pessimistic, or optimistic, who cares? The main thing is that you're showing up, that you're here and that you're finding ever more capacity to love this world because it will not be healed without that. That was what is going to unleash our intelligence and our ingenuity and our solidarity for the healing of our world.”

WorldGivingCareHealingWorryThis WorldFindingsCapacityOptimisticHopefulHopelessOur WorldSolidarityWho CaresHealedIngenuityPessimisticShowing UpCapacity To Love
Author:Joanna Macy
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“Yes, it looks bleak. But you are still alive now. You are alive with all the others, in this present moment. And because the truth is speaking in the work, it unlocks the heart. And there’s such a feeling and experience of adventure. It’s like a trumpet call to a great adventure. In all great adventures there comes a time when the little band of heroes feels totally outnumbered and bleak, like Frodo in Lord of the Rings or Pilgrim in Pilgrim’s Progress. You learn to say ‘It looks bleak. Big deal, it looks bleak.’”

FeelsLooksHeartLittlesStillsMomentsFeelingsBigsDealsLordAliveProgressAdventureHeroTruth IsBandRingsPresent MomentWorking ItBig DealTrumpetsPilgrimBleakThere Comes A TimeFrodoGreat Adventure
Author:Joanna Macy
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